image from www.sodrama.com
My wife and I sat comfortably in front of the TV. We kept smiling on some of the scenes. Ah, love story! I must admit that Kim Tae-Hee (Allison) is cute. We’re about to finish chapter 6 (out of 16) when the images started to blur. My wife jumped on her seat and blurted out “Sayang! We’ll ask for a replacement of the disc tomorrow”.
“Ok”, I told her. I’m excited to continue my indulgence on the series tonight.
My mind spun a little bit. Why do we like to watch Korean soaps? The Jewel in the Palace was also a hit in the country. Maybe, just maybe, we are tired of the locals. The only local TV soap I watch is Majika.
So what about the Koreans in the country? We have so many of them in our city. Do we welcome them with arms opened wide? Or are we just forced to accept them coz of some tourism drive? I can list a few of the locals’ impressions on them:
1. Koreans are very stingy. They won’t give extra tip. (from taxi drivers)
2. You can’t mix them with Japanese guests (hotel worker)
3. Arrogant (from a co-worker who complained to a radio network about his parking experience)
4. Hot and wild (from a colleague who got to date a Korean girl whom he met in a disco bar)
5. Wild and noisy (in a restaurant)
My wife is very friendly to Koreans. She befriended one who look lost when she took the IELTS. I remembered her name, Samantha, divorced at 26, and planned to migrate to Canada. She’s a very pretty and bright woman. She thought I was Japanese or Chinese. I told her that there was one who mistook me for a Korean. She laughed and seemingly agreed.
My wife also brought to one of our outings, her Korean CGFNS review mate. Jae-yun (or similarly sounding) was all I remembered of her name. She’s afraid of direct sunlight, but nevertheless, joined us in our boating. I wonder where she is right now.
Recently, my wife even discussed to me about the newspaper ad looking for families/couples willing to house a Korean student as part of their cultural exposure. I laughed but did not give an answer.
The misunderstandings are perhaps due to the fact that we lack knowledge or appreciation of each other’s culture. I certainly welcome these Koreans. But ironically, I live in a province who murdered its first tourist almost 500 years ago.
14 comments:
hehehe. didn't think you're also into this kind of crap mate. :)
=_) i wasn't into this kind of 'crap' either. but then i discovered My Girl *wink* so now i'm ruined.
just dropped by too. thanks for the kind words...
hey evolver - some 'crap' gets into our heads sometimes. We continued the "Love story..." series last night from 10pm to 430am. I guess we still have to run 2 hours more before the tragic ending. Ah, love stories makes the world go round! And we also noticed in the story that intelligent people are so dumb when it comes to love. ha ha ha. We were so dumb then when we first fell in love with our SOs. Rationalizing came later.
happyvanny - thanks for dropping by! stay happy!
sometimes its refreshing that Koreanobelas endings are not always what we pinoys intend them to be. Most of the time we get suckered by them. I was goaded into purchasing the entire season of Stained Glass because the TV version is so bloody frustrating. I couldn't be home every night to watch every episode. And to top it all up, in the ending, nobody lived happily ever after. YARGH! The girl was soooh delectably yummy though. Teehehehe.
evolver,you watched koreanovelas, too? i'm not surprised. i bet it's those cutie smiles and skin color. ha ha!
i have a copy of stairway to heaven. coz cholo is really hot. hahaha. but i borrowed full house and really enjoyed it.
my sister tutors korean students. and there are those who profits from housing korean students. it's like the students are boarders, but they really collect a lot.
nasa pinas ako last august, mga anak ko paalam: Ma, breaktime, telenovela na, koreans...
Ngeeh?!! ang tawa ko !
eto sad story about Koreans:
a famous singer sung in a five star hotel and koreans were there.
Wala raw modo, sabi ng katsika ko.
They wear shorts and shirts during the show with their slippers!Mga mukhang bagong gising!
Then instead of clapping they Hoot!
hindi maka reklamo si singer kasi nga, the hotel managemnt seems approving the Koreans kasi they got money and bring good business to the hotel.
Yong ibang EU and Kano guests, behave naman daw but the Koreans.
Then sa bansa natin, No.1 na ang Korean tourists beating Japanese.
BECAUSE Koreans learns english and mura lang singil ng tutor, compare sa bansa nila, mahal na fees, pag labas nila, back to korean speaking sila.
I dont mind them around, tulong din sa bansa natin, but cant they behave? Sa Bora, mga lasengero at maingay sila! Most businesses were owned by them in Boracay.I will not missed them if they go,you know!
Teka, telenovela topic dito?
SOWEEEeee...
marichu, thanks for dropping by...koreanovelas may also be available dyan.
tin, many profited from this korean wave in the country. Some buildings (even closed hotels and pension houses) are converted to dorms and language schools for koreans.
francesca, this blog entry is not just about telenovelas, but also about koreans in the city. You are correct in your observations about koreans. A client of ours, who married a korean whom she met years ago while working in KSA, said that she was really surprised about the negative impressions. Koreans, she said, are really well-behaved in Korea.
I also heard from a masseuse that they give minimal tips of P20 - P50. I think the reason for this is because most of them are still students and they need to control their expenses. What impresses me most about Koreans is their skin. Too bad they are generally not good-looking, no?
maybe korean novelas reflect a part of our culture that's why. i love that korean novela, too, and spends time for it. guess it's our romantic nature that makes the novelas click here.
"What impresses me most about Koreans is their skin. Too bad they are generally not good-looking, no? Abaniko
I noticed that one too. This I also noticed among korean series: The villains are better looking than the protagonist. (I think except, Love Story in Harvard). he he.
Bing - I agree that Filipinos are very romantic.
i offered to buy my mom a DVD set of Jewel in the Palace. but she said she wouldn't watch it because it's not dubbed anymore. and wouldn't have the tagalog themesong. hehe.
Ha! Ha! Maybe we should start a yahoogroup for Korean Telenovelaholics! :) On second thought, wag na lang..I spend too much time watching them already. Hehe! Thanks for dropping by!
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